More funds coming for national parks?

By DEBORAH COURSON SMITH - Big Sky Connection

HELENA – Fans of Montana’s national parks are watching carefully as Congress puts President Obama’s budget under the microscope this month. The president is proposing an increase of $55 million in the National Park Service budget for 2015, including $10 million as a “Centennial Initiative” to get the parks ready for the agency’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2016.

According to John Garder, budget and appropriations director for the National Parks Conservation Association, it’s a promising start after years of budget-trimming have taken a toll on park maintenance and staffing.

“It’s a modest increase over last year,” he said. “It doesn’t get parks back to where they were just a few years ago, before damaging cuts, to ensure that people can have a really inspiring and a safe experience out in our parks.”

Garder said additional park funding is much needed, for a system that has put off about $12 billion worth of maintenance in recent years. From historic resources to water and sewer systems, visitor centers, roads and trails, he said, many things are in disrepair.

“The main cause for the growth of the deferred-maintenance backlog is the decline in Congress’ investment in the construction account, which creates so many jobs,” Garder said. “In today’s dollars, the construction account for the National Park Service has been cut nearly in half, just in the last four years.”

According to the Interior Department, Glacier National Park attracts more than 2 million visitors a year, and puts more than $170 million into communities near the park.